King Lear

Synopsis

King Lear divides his Kingdom between his daughters according to a declaration of their love for him. His eldest Goneril and Regan exaggerate their affection and inherit. His youngest daughter Cordelia speaks only the truth and is banished. So begins the tragedy of King Lear, whose dignity, sanity and finally life are torn from him by a self-seeking younger generation, ambitious for his power. What is love, what is madness, what is truth - Shakespeare explores these questions together with many others in King Lear, widely considered to be his greatest tragedy.

Our Review:

13 February 2002

"Be like a scurvy politician and seem to see the things thou dost not" exhorts Lear to Gloucester. But in Jonathan Kent's new production at the old coach station that serves as a temporary home for the Almeida, it is Lear himself who cannot see, as his self-awareness crumbles and his carefully built up image of himself is stripped away.

There's an impressive start. Paul Brown's set encloses the vast space of the theatre and serves as television studio as Lear prepares to make a broadcast. Right from the outset, the two daughters put on a false act as they preen and pose in front of the camera It's a measure of Cordelia's honesty that she refuses to go before the lights to say her piece. But once Lear realises how he was mistaken about his daughters, it's his own image that he attacks, as he batters his reflection in a mirror.

And as Lear's world crumbles around him so too does the set (quite literally) as the storm renders the grand house to ruin. This does lead to ...

Read more of the review

Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com - 19 March 2002:

One wonders what production the other reviewers witnessed. I, too, was bowled senseless by the unexpected decor. Turning the corner from the tin corridor leading to the theatre, one's first impression is WOW. From there, it's a misguided production, downhill all the way, strangely unmoving at the end. Shouldn't Lear elicit some feeling at the end? Oliver Ford Davies leaves us flat, uncaring about the lovely Cordelia. Even the recognition scene is totally unrealized. A difficult feat for director and actors. But the true culprit is Paul Brown. Yes, WOW on first sight, but thereafter, I spent the first 1 1/2 hours of the show contemplating exactly HOW they would get rid of the set for the rage of nature that should be the soul of this terrifying drama. An unsuccessful coup had walls falling apart, electrical outages arcing across the stage; but alas, no one thought to strike the furniture. Lovely antique pieces sitting about on the heath, interior scenes playing in sopping sets, a stately desk for a hovel. It became all too ridiculous for my taste. Even the estimable and ubiquitous Mark Henderson proved unsuccessful in lighting the figures. And the intermission? Quite the most interesting part of the production. What a spectacle, what with water vacuums, an army of sponge and mop-wielding crew (including the ushers) trying desperately to clean up the mess. On the night I saw it the intermission was stretched to almost 35 minutes to allow for clean-up. Quite the proof of Aristotle's call for unities. The second half could never recover. Paul Jesson's Kent quite stole the show for me. He was superb, an all round singular performance offset by the totally miscast Anthony O'Donnell whose Fool was frequently incomprehensible. We went to bed long before noon. ...

Read more and add your own review